Dryden Flight Research Center 2004 Implementation Plan · Dryden Flight Research Center 2004...

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Center 2004 Implementation Plan

Transcript of Dryden Flight Research Center 2004 Implementation Plan · Dryden Flight Research Center 2004...

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National Aeronauticsand Space Administration

Dryden Flight Research Center2004 Implementation Plan

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Dryden FlightResearch Center

2004 Implementation Plan

On the cover — A 1997mural titled “Acceptingthe Challenge of Flight”by renowned aerospaceartist Robert McCalldepicts past, present,and future contributionsof NASA Dryden andsome of its people to thescience of flight re-search. The mural, ondisplay in the foyer ofDryden’s WalterWilliams ResearchAircraft IntegrationFacility, portrays someof the Dryden peoplewho represent the multi-talented staff of theCenter.

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The Dryden Flight Research Center is named for Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, an internationally renownedaeronautical scientist who worked for the National Bureau of Standards from 1918 to 1946, eventuallybecoming its Associate Director. In 1947, Dryden succeeded George W. Lewis as Director of theNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the nation’s top civilian aeronautics researchinstitution. That same year, Dryden made the Muroc Flight Test Unit (predecessor of NASA Dryden) apermanent facility. During the following 11 years, Hugh Dryden guided NACA toward high speedflight, hypersonic flight, and ultimately space flight. With the formation of the National Aeronautics andSpace Administration (NASA) in 1958, President Eisenhower appointed Dr. Dryden the agency’s firstDeputy Administrator, a role in which he had a profound influence over the early American spaceprogram. Dryden served in this capacity until his death on December 2, 1965. The Dryden FlightResearch Center was named in his honor on March 26, 1976. The following is his explanation of therole of flight research,

“...to separate the real from the imagined problems and to make known the overlooked and theunexpected problems...”

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Director’s Message

Since 1946, NASA engineers and their NACApredecessors have pioneered flight researchabove Rogers Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert.As Dryden proceeds into the 21st Century, wereflect proudly on our heritage and look to thefuture of atmospheric flight research where weseek out new opportunities and challenges.

A few years ago, remotely piloted, autono-mous, and long duration vehicles were merelyconcepts and “imagined capabilities.” Today,they are the new generation of flying machines– revolutionary technology made real. Themen and women of Dryden have played a keyrole in the development and maturation ofthese vehicles and Dryden is poised to makeeven greater contributions in the future.

Dryden will continue to be a forerunner inbringing new ideas and concepts to fruition.Dryden’s research efforts will further expandour knowledge of aeronautics and develop theflight research tools and techniques needed for

the future. Building on our X-15 and Space Shuttle heritage, we support new access to spacetechnologies needing flight validation in order to demonstrate improved reliability and capabilityand enhanced safety. Dryden will maintain its leadership position in flight validating NASAtechnologies that will expand the complex airspace and air transportation systems and reducepollution and noise to the benefit of society. I am confident Dryden will eagerly take on thesechallenges and continue doing what we do best –“make known the overlooked and unexpected.”

The Dryden Center Implementation Plan provides our customers, partners, product users, andemployees a clear vision of our mission and capabilities alignment, roles and responsibilities, andour goals, objectives, and commitments. Dryden’s vision within NASA is exciting, and I lookforward to the future.

Kevin L. PetersenDirector, Dryden Flight Research Center

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Celebrating 100 Years of Powered Flight —A panoramic mural commissioned by NASA Dryden todepict highlights of the first century of flight wasunveiled on July 30, 2003 at the world’s largest aviationevent, the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture2003 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The mural, by aviationartist Robert McCall, depicts a host of milestone aircraftand spacecraft swirling around the original Wright Flyer,symbolically airborne in front of the sun at the dawn ofthe age of flight, as well as the pilots and astronautsthat flew them. The mural will soon grace the frontlobby of Dryden’s administration building.

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Table of ContentsDirector’s Message .................................................................................................................................... 1

I Dryden in NASA’S Vision and Mission ............................................................................................. 7

II Dryden Support to NASA’S Enterprises and Themes ...................................................................... 11

III Current Dryden Capabilities ............................................................................................................. 19

IV Strategic Capabilities for the Future ................................................................................................. 27

V Implementing Strategies ................................................................................................................... 35

Appendices

A: Dryden Specialized Facilities .................................................................................................... 44

B: Abbreviations and Acronyms ..................................................................................................... 47

C: Reference List ............................................................................................................................ 48

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Dryden in NASA’SVision and MissionDryden in NASA’SVision and Mission

I

X-1E Enshrined — Ondisplay in front ofDryden’s administrationbuilding for more thanfour decades, the X-1Eis representative of theearly experimentalresearch aircraft thatpropelled the NACAHigh Speed FlightStation, now DrydenFlight Research Center,into the forefront ofhigh-speed research. Amodified version of theoriginal X-1, the X-1Ewas flown from 1955 to1958 to obtain in-flightdata at twice the speedof sound, with particularemphasis placed oninvestigating theimprovements achievedwith an extremely thinhigh-speed wing. TheX-1E reached amaximum speed of1,471 miles per hour(Mach 2.24) and analtitude of 73,000 feet.

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The purpose of this implementation plan is to document the roles and responsibilities of the Centerand provide a detailed review of the capabilities we provide in support of the Agency’s programsand projects. Annual performance goals will be documented in the annual insert, Volume 2 of thisplan.

NASA Vision

To improve life here,To extend life to there,To find life beyond.

Dryden’s primary role within NASA is to make breakthrough technology and scientific ad-vances through flight research and concept validation that improves the quality of life for theNation’s citizenry.

NASA Mission

To understand and protect our home planet,To explore the universe and search for life,To inspire the next generation of explorers

...as only NASA can.

Within the concept of NASA’s Mission, Dryden is a leader in implementing the AerospaceTechnology Enterprise’s program strategies and fulfilling key support roles for other Enter-prises. We build partnerships and alliances with the scientific and technology communities,academia, and industry, tapping into each other’s strengths, for our continuing journey ofexploration.

We use our programs’ content to nurture developing minds. We seek and develop new knowl-edge that promises to improve lives, enhance security, and stimulate economic growth. We willuse our resources to do those things that Dryden is uniquely qualified to do, particularlycomplementing the capabilities of the other centers. We are committed to innovation and theorigination of transformational technologies needed to further enable NASA’s ability to achieveits Mission objectives.

Dryden’s Commitment to NASA’s Transformation Efforts

All investments will contribute to a single set of Agency goals and will be directly traceable to ourVision and Mission.

Dryden shares a vision and a set of values characterized by achievement and the knowledgethat the work we do is critical to the Nation.

Human space flight capabilities will be expanded to enable research and discovery.

Dryden will be recognized as the premier flight research and test organization for validatinghigh-risk, emerging aerospace technology concepts.

Technology developments will be crosscutting.

Dryden will perform flight research and technology integration to revolutionize aviation,advance space transportation, and pioneer aerospace technology.

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Education and inspiration will be an integral part of all our programs.

Dryden will capitalize on its unique position to entice and engage educators and students inorder to nurture and enhance their technical skills through active participation in our aeronauticand airborne science cutting edge education, research, and flight programs.

We will operate as One NASA in pursuit of our Vision and Mission.

We will achieve One NASA through teamwork within, among, and between organizations andby sharing competencies and knowledge.

Dryden’s Integration of NASA’s Core Values††

NASA’s Core Values are integrated throughout Dryden’s Leadership Philosophy, Individual Behavioral, and Operating System Values. These values inspire and drive our actions to constantly achieve what others only imagine. Among our values are these:

We assure a commitment to safety by employing systems and processes that ensure the safety of the public, the employees, and assets. We ensure safety in all aspects of personal endeavors and we are committed to ensuring the safety of others.

We support personal leadership by employing systems and processes that encourage growth and empowerment, innovation and responsible risk-taking, and freedom to manage, and by providing foundations for higher performance. We respect diversity in culture and experience, and we are fair, open-minded, courteous, and discreet. Together we create a workforce that values people, communicates openly, and expands our know-ledge and skills.

We focus on customer satisfaction by being effective, excellent, high value, on-time and budget, consistent, competitive, and service oriented. We have a “can-do” attitude. We are creative, resourceful, proactive, efficient, and courageous, and we strive for win-win relationships. We are a unified organization of diverse, talented, honest, and hardworking professionals, dedicated to safely providing the highest value service and products.

We reward leadership, management, and technical efforts that align with organization vision, mission, and values. We are accountable, reliable, responsive, disciplined, and dedicated. We believe personal integrity is our most important asset. We are honest, trustworthy, ethical, and respectful of others and ourselves.

NASA’s Core Values†

SafetyNASA’s Mission success starts with safety. A commitment to safety permeates everything we do. We are committed to protecting the safety and health of the general public, pilots and astronauts, the NASA workforce, and our high-value assets on and off the ground.

PeopleOur greatest strength is our workforce, a team of highly qualified individuals that is representative, at all levels, of America’s diversity. We foster a culture of trust, respect, teamwork, communication, creativity, equal opportunity, and empowerment.

ExcellenceWe are committed to excellence. We continuously improve our processes, products, and services to better serve our customers.

IntegrityWe are honest and ethical in all that we do. We deliver on our commitments, and we are accountable for our performance.

†NPD 1000.1c, February 2003 ††Dryden Management System Manual

Table 1. Value Alignment

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Dryden Support to NASA’SEnterprises and ThemesDryden Support to NASA’SEnterprises and Themes

II

Dryden From the Air— A wide range ofengineering, laboratory,aircraft maintenance,technical, and engineer-ing support facilitiesmake up NASA Drydentoday. This southerlyaerial view shows theDryden campus on theedge of Rogers DryLake at Edwards AirForce Base, with thecompass rose on theleft and the Air Forcemain base complexabove.

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The NASA Vision and Mission are the guiding principles for Enterprise and Center strategic planning.Seven strategic and three enabling goals have been defined to focus the Agency’s research and develop-ment activities to achieve its Vision and Mission in the coming decades. Dryden is aligned with andcontributing to these goals and supporting the One NASA philosophy by collaborating with otherNASA Centers to meet the Enterprises’ objectives. Dryden also teams with other government agencies,industry, and academia to integrate and demonstrate new technological capabilities in flight, “as onlyNASA can”.

Dryden Support to NASA Enterprises

NASA’s Enterprises have the principle responsibility for achieving NASA’s goals through supportingorganizations such as Dryden. Dryden directly supports four of the six Enterprises. Our contributions aredescribed very briefly in the context of our Enterprise roles.

The Aerospace Technology EnterpriseThe Aerospace Technology Enterprise (AST) contributes to the NASA Vision as a “technology pro-vider,” pioneering and developing advanced aerospace technologies. Within NASA, these technologiesenable the other five NASA Enterprises in their far-reaching mission roles. The development of tech-nologies and other enabling capabilities such as advanced tools, engineering processes, and systemconcepts are accomplished at the AST Centers through the variety of technical and scientific expertiseand unique research facilities resident at the Centers.

This Enterprise also helps others use its technology for both aerospace and non-aerospace purposes. Inparticular, the aeronautics technologies are transferred to other government agencies such as the FederalAviation Administration (FAA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide leadership in airtransportation and access to space. These technologies are used by the aerospace industry to improvesafety and environmental compatibility of commercial aircraft, and to enhance military aircraft perfor-mance. Technology partnerships with industry and academic entities outside of traditional aerospacefields are also formed to both ensure broad use of NASA technology for greater public benefit and tocapture innovative technologies that can be applied to NASA missions. The Aerospace TechnologyEnterprise is composed of four themes: Aeronautics Technology, Space Launch Initiative, Mission andScience Measurement Technology, and Innovative Technology Transfer Partnerships.

Dryden provides support to all four themes through its conduct and support of flight research. Wemaintain and operate a variety of research and multi-purpose aircraft to meet the demands of flightresearch and concept validation.

The Earth Science EnterpriseThe Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) seeks to understand and protect our home planet by conductingEarth system observation, research, and knowledge transfer advancing Earth-system science as onlyNASA can. NASA conducts and sponsors scientific research and technology innovation to answerquestions that are on the frontiers of science, that have profound societal importance, and for which ourview of the planet can make a defining contribution. To answer the primary questions of “How is theEarth system changing, and what are the consequences for life on Earth?” the ESE has established astrategic approach framework. One of the main components of this framework is the design andimplementation of an integrated strategy for observing the Earth by using the satellite, suborbital, andsurface-based platforms needed to collect the types and quantities of observations required to researchclimate, weather, and natural hazards

Dryden’s main support of the ESE is through the Earth System Science (ESS) theme whose purpose isto “Understand how the Earth is changing, better predict change, and understand the consequences forlife on Earth.” In this regard, Dryden operates suborbital platforms for atmosphere-based observations(to complement space-based observations); develops and demonstrates new suborbital platform capa-bilities to enable new and improved observing methodologies; assists in transferring proven, matureplatforms to science partners with operational responsibilities and missions; and validates experimentsand demonstrations in support of ESE’s technology maturation process.

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Space Flight EnterpriseThe Space Flight Enterprise (SFE) provides many critical enabling capabilities, including the SpaceShuttle, that make possible much of the science, research, and exploration achievements of the rest ofthe Agency. This includes advancing the boundaries of human and robotic exploration, and providingsafe, routine access to space in support of human operations in low-Earth orbit. The Shuttle firstlaunched in 1981, provides the only capability in the United States for human access to space. Inaddition to transporting people, material, and equipment, the Shuttle allows astronauts to service andrepair satellites and build the International Space Station. The Shuttle can be configured to carrydifferent types of equipment, spacecraft, and scientific instruments that help scientists understand andprotect our home planet, explore the universe, and inspire the imagination of the American people.Dryden’s primary SFE support is in the Space Shuttle Program theme, maintaining and operating theShuttle’s primary alternate landing capability.

Education EnterpriseThe Education Enterprise (EE) plays a leading role in NASA’s Mission to inspire the next generation ofexplorers. Serving as the focal point for NASA education planning and implementation, EE conductsprogram reviews and evaluates the performance of all education programs. The EE mission to inspirestudents to pursue the study of science and engineering has the ultimate goal of having them choosecareers in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. It is from this pool that NASA will draw itsfuture workforce to fulfill its mission.

EE’s Education Program provides a wealth of opportunities for educators and students at all levels ofthe education system. Dryden’s exciting missions provide a one-of-a-kind venue for engaging andinspiring the next generation of explorers in a relevant and stimulating atmosphere. Dryden supportsNASA’s Education Program theme through programs and technology projects designed to incorporateour research and flight capabilities and activities, with emphasis in reaching under-represented andunder-served communities.

The matrix on the next page lists the goals and shows their relationships to budget themes and theEnterprises that implement them. Overlaid on the matrix are Dryden’s roles on the One NASA Team.

Dryden Support to NASA’s Themes

Enterprises use themes to implement programs and tasks. Themes are the Agency’s structure for budgetplanning, management, and performance reporting. Dryden has primary contributing roles in fivethemes, substantial support roles with another two, and smaller, but important, roles in three morethemes. Additionally, Dryden adds further benefit to the themes and programs it supports by providingmeaningful educational and outreach programs to inspire and motivate a great number of students, fromdiverse populations, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Thissection provides an overview of our theme roles and involvement.

Aeronautics Technology Dryden’s heritage and primary focus is atmospheric flight research, which is an essential element of thework conducted under the Aeronautics Technology (AT) theme. The AT theme is the sole administratorof the Agency’s aeronautics investments. By developing and transferring technologies, NASA’s invest-ments in AT play a key role in creating a safer, more secure, more environmentally friendly, and moreefficient air transportation system. The results of this investment, in turn, increase performance ofmilitary aircraft and develop new capabilities for science or commercial missions. This theme alsoenhances the Nation’s security through its partnerships with the DoD and the FAA.

Dryden’s strategic objectives within the AT theme are to safely conduct, enable, and improve NASA’satmospheric flight research capability. As the Agency’s lead for atmospheric flight research, the Centerwill promote technological innovation, discover new phenomena, and accelerate development of newaerospace concepts. Concept input to the Center can come from a number of sources, including all fourthemes within the Aerospace Technology Enterprise, industry, academia, and DoD. Flight research areasinclude advanced propulsion technologies, lightweight high-strength adaptable structures, adaptive

NASA Goals

Goal 2 - Enable a safer,more secure, efficient, andenvironmentally friendlyair transportation system.

Goal 3 - Create a moresecure world and improvethe quality of life byinvesting in technologiesand collaborating withother agencies, industry,and academia.

Goal 10 - Enablerevolutionary capabilitiesthrough new technology.

- NASA Strategic Plan

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controls, advanced vehicle designs, and new collaborative design and development tools. In collaboration with theFAA, research is conducted in air traffic management technologies for new automation tools and concepts ofoperations. Many vehicle types, including subsonic, supersonic, and remotely operated aircraft (ROA), areaddressed. ROA encompasses unmanned and uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAV), remotely commandedvehicles, and robotic aerial vehicles. Dryden supports the AT theme primarily through flight research anddemonstrations for the Vehicle Systems and Aviation Safety and Security programs contributing to Goals 2, 3, and10.

To support our primary mission of flight research and demonstration, Dryden maintains and operates a varietyof multi-purpose aircraft. These aircraft are used• as research vehicles,• to carry research vehicles to launch altitude,• to position instruments and experiments in the atmosphere,• to provide research pilots with airborne simulation opportunities for test maneuver practice,• to provide safety chase, and• to provide aerial photography for data and project imagery.These multi-purpose aircraft are loosely grouped into three categories: Test Bed and Platform aircraft,Support aircraft, and Mission Management aircraft. See Appendix A for more information about the aircraft.

Space Launch Initiative

New space transportation capabilities are needed to ensure that America continues its leadership in space.

Aero Tech

Ed

MISSION1

2

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Dark Blue = Primary Light Blue =Supporting

EnterprisesBiological & Physical

ResearchSpace Science Earth Science

3

Explore the fundamental principles of physics,chemistry, and biology through research in theunique natural laboratory of space.

Explore the solar system and the universe beyond,understand the origin and evolution of life, andsearch for evidence of life elsewhere.

NASA 2003 Strategic Plan Objectives Mapp ing

GOALS

Create a more secure world & improve quality of lifeby investing in technology & collaborating withother agencies, industry, & academia.

Understand Earth's system and apply Earth system-science to improve the prediction of climate,weather, and natural hazards.

Enable a safer, more secure, efficient, andenvironmentally friendly air transportation system.

Enable revolutionary capabilities through newtechnology.

Inspire and motivate students to pursue careers inscience, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Engage the public in shaping and sharing theexperience of exploration and discovery.

Ensure the provision of space access and improve itby increasing safety, reliability, and affordability.

Extend the duration and boundaries of human spaceflight to create new opportunities for exploration anddiscovery.

Primary SupportingDryden's Contributions

Table 2. Objectives Alignment

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The Space Launch Initiative (SLI) theme gives special emphasis to NASA’s uniqueneeds, including crew escape and survival systems, which will not be developed bythe private sector without Government funding. The initiative is structured todevelop technologies to help ensure safe, affordable, and reliable access to space inthe critical areas of space transportation and hypersonics. Dryden’s contributions tothe SLI theme provide primary support to Goals 3 and 8 and come through flightdemonstration efforts supporting the Orbital Space Plane and Next GenerationLaunch Technology programs.

Orbital Space PlaneThe Orbital Space Plane (OSP) program is driven in large part by the need toprovide transportation to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Dryden’srole in the development of the OSP is to help define the requirements of and test anOSP flight demonstrator with regard to safe atmospheric re-entry, approach, andlanding. Our roles in OSP flight validation would include:• applying our expertise to vehicle and systems requirements,• verifying subsonic performance• demonstrating Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC)/landing systems,• testing and evaluating competing avionics systems, and• developing reliability data in a flight environment.

Dryden has a long history of testing the Shuttle for approach and landing data andplayed a key role in the more recent X-40A approach and landing tests at Edwards.Dryden is also presently providing significant support to SLI/OSP as part of theX-37 flight validation program, with the first atmospheric flight anticipated in late2004 – early 2005.

Next Generation Launch TechnologyNext General Launch Technology (NGLT) program is focused on developing nextgeneration Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technologies, including key investmentsin propulsion, structures, and operations.

NGLT includes hypersonic vehicles, hot-structures, launch system technologies, propul-sion technology, and vehicle systems researchand technology development related to hyper-sonic flight. Specific projects supported byDryden include Hyper-X (X-43A, B, and C)scramjet engine flight experiments with X-43Aflights in late 2003 and 2004 and X-43C and X-43B flights occurring in 2008 or later. Drydenhas unique capabilities for launching hypersonicvehicles from the B-52B to initiate the hyper-sonic flights and, later, with the newly acquiredB-52H. Dryden also has unique test facilities andextended range capability for these long-range,high-speed configuration experiments.

Mission and Science Measurement TechnologyThe Mission and Science Measurement Technol-ogy (MSM) theme is responsible for developingcrosscutting technology for a variety of aviationand space applications such as communications,power and propulsion systems, microdevices andinstruments, information technology, nano-technology, and biotechnology. These technology

Enterprises

Space Flight Aerospace Technology

NASA Goals

Goal 3 - Create a moresecure world and improvethe quality of life byinvesting in technologiesand collaborating withother agencies, industry,and academia.

Goal 8 - Ensure theprovision of space accessand improve it byincreasing safety,reliability, andaffordability.

- NASA Strategic Plan

Illustration of the X-37 Advanced TechnologyDemonstrator in a Shuttle cargo bay.

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advances will have the potential to open a new era in aviation and allow space missions to expand ourknowledge of Earth and the universe. By developing advanced science instruments, sensors, communi-cations, autonomy and data analysis technologies, MSM contributes to NASA’s Mission to understandand protect our home planet and explore the universe. MSM technologies are unique to NASA becausethey focus primarily on space mission applications. Quality and performance requirements usuallyexceed those of all other potential users and end-use applications may have no known customer outsideNASA. By providing support to Goal 10, Dryden contributes to the integration, flight validation, and thetechnology transfer of intelligent flight control systems to DoD and industry for the Engineering forComplex Systems program.

Innovative Technology Transfer PartnershipsUnder the Innovative Technology Transfer Partnerships (ITTP) theme, Aerospace Technology Enter-prise (AST) works to form partnerships with industry and academia in order to develop new technologythat supports Enterprise programs. AST will also license and transfer NASA technology to U.S. industrythrough the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer(STTR) programs. Dryden contributes to this theme by managing SBIR grants for the Small BusinessInnovation Research program, contributing to Goal 3.

Earth System ScienceNASA uses the vantage point of space to observe Earth and understand both how it is changing andthe consequences for life. The Earth System Science (ESS) theme works with the science communityto answer questions on the frontiers of science that have profound societal importance and for whichremote sensing of the Earth can make a defining contribution.

Within the ESS, the Research Program is designed to answer pressing science questions, including:How is the global Earth system changing and what are the consequences for human civilization? Howcan we predict future changes in the Earth system? The Research Program studies the Earth as awhole system, using measurements made by Earth satellites as well as by suborbital and surfaceassets.

Through the Research Program, Dryden contributes to Goal 1 by providing a key piece of the subor-bital observation mission supporting the Suborbital Science Program. The suborbital environmentallows in-situ atmospheric measurements with varying vertical and horizontal resolutions, targetedobservations of regional or localized phenomena at high spatial and temporal resolutions, and payloadattendance during flight and/or recovery after flight.

Dryden’s continuing suborbital science role is managing the high altitude (above 30,000 feet) portionof the program. This consists of the safe operation and maintenance of core platforms, missionmanagement, payload integration, and the procurement/management of flight hours on new technol-ogy and cooperative platforms. Dryden will also support the Suborbital Science Program vision toevolve to new technology platforms and transition mature platforms to science partners with opera-tional responsibilities. Dryden’s future support to the Suborbital Science Program will enable newobserving capabilities such as extreme endurance missions measured in weeks and distances notfeasible by inhabited air vehicles. A new capability such as this can contribute towards answering thequestions society poses about our home planet.

Dryden will also position itself to support the Earth Science Applications (ESA) theme. The ESA themeplays a critical role in the transfer of knowledge and technologies to the private sector and society.Dryden will support ESA’s effort to benchmark decision support systems and technologies to demon-strate the civil applicability and benefit of NASA’s Earth science investment results.

Space Shuttle ProgramThe Space Shuttle Program (SSP) ensures that the Nation will have reliable, safe, and affordable accessto space for our human and robotic explorers and open new exploration and research opportunitiesthrough the extension of human presence off the Earth. The Space Flight Enterprise enables research bydelivering transportation systems such as the Shuttle, providing operational research facilities in space

NASA Goals

Goal 10 - Enable revolu-tionary capabilitiesthrough new technology.

Goal 3 - Create a moresecure world and improvethe quality of life byinvesting in technologiesand collaborating withother agencies, industry,and academia.

Goal 1 - UnderstandEarth’s system and applyEarth-system science toimprove the prediction ofclimate, weather, andnatural hazards.

- NASA Strategic Plan

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[eg. the International Space Station (ISS)], and by providing space communications systems andsupporting space infrastructure. Dryden’s contribution to Goal 8 is through the Space Shuttle GroundOperations Program as the primary alternate Shuttle landing facility. Our focus is to support programefforts that implement facility and process modifications that will safely return the Shuttle to flight. Inaddition to ground operations support, Dryden will continue to provide atmospheric flight dynamicsconsultation and analysis through participation in specialist team activities.

Dryden also provides ongoing on-orbit radar tracking support of the Shuttle, ISS, and other low-Earthorbiting vehicles. Astronaut voice communications and two-way data communications, are provided aswell. Video coverage and a full complement of range instrumentation including a mission control roomare provided during Edwards Shuttle landings. Dryden’s ongoing role will be to contribute to theShuttle’s primacy as the world’s most versatile launch system throughout its life cycle and to provide thesupport needed to the ISS that will help maximize its potential.

Education ProgramFrom the excitement of the countdown to the awe-inspiring images of planets and galaxies, NASA’sexplorations have a unique capacity to fire the imaginations of young and old alike, but the road todiscoveries does not begin at the launch pad; it begins at the classroom door. NASA’s Mission “tounderstand and to explore” depends upon educated, motivated people with the ingenuity to invent tools,solve problems, and have the courage to always ask the next question. It is not enough to depend on theexcitement generated by our images. We must capitalize on our progress and achievements in under-standing and exploration by providing meaningful educational programs that inspire and motivatestudents in greater numbers and from more diverse populations to ultimately pursue careers in science,technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Dryden supports the Education Program (EP) through efforts to expand the pool of human capital tomeet the Nation’s needs for a highly skilled technical workforce while concurrently supporting Dryden’sown future research needs, providing a direct and relevant contribution to Goal 6. Through its threethrust areas, pipeline program development, workforce enhancement, and research and developmentopportunities, we are uniquely positioned to entice and engage educators and students in order to nurtureand enhance their technical skills through active participation in aeronautic and airborne science.Workforce enhancement is discussed in Section IV, Dryden Support to Human Capital.

• Pipeline Programs - Dryden’s approach is to integrate NASA’s education programs and the Center’saerospace education projects. We will implement the Educator Astronaut Program (EAP) and NASAExplorer Schools (NES) using Dryden’s mission content. Dryden develops new, innovative technologyprojects to support our core research and education mission. We also support the Solar System Explora-tion theme’s sponsorship of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)Robotics Competition by providing engineers and educators for team leadership and mentoring.

• Research and Development - Universities and industry play a major role in conducting NASA’sresearch and development. Dryden will build stronger partnerships with the academic community toincrease the research infrastructure necessary to accomplish our mission using grants, cooperativeagreements, contracts, and fellowship programs. The Center’s Office of Academic Investments is part ofthe Dryden Research Council, ensuring that the Education Enterprise’s funded student and facultyresearch programs are aligned with strategic research goals and objectives.

NASA Goals

Goal 8 - Ensure theprovision of space accessand improve it byincreasing safety,reliability, andaffordability.

Goal 6 - Inspire andmotivate students topursue careers in science,technology, engineering,and mathematics.

- NASA Strategic Plan

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Current DrydenCapabilitiesCurrent DrydenCapabilities

III

Active AeroelasticWing — NASADryden’s highly-modified ActiveAeroelastic Wing F/A-18A shows off its formduring a 360-degreeaileron roll during aresearch flight. In a21st-century high-techupdate of the Wrightbrothers wing-warpingcontrol system, theActive Aeroelastic Wingproject is researchingwing aeroelasticflexibility for improvedmaneuverability, weightreduction, and extendedrange.

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Data for the demographic charts are current as of July 12, 2003 for full time permanent civil servants. The most current information can be foundat the NASA People website http://nasapeople.nasa.gov/ under the section labeled NASA Workforce Profile.

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To provide substantive support to existing projects in seven Agencythemes areas and support to others as required, Dryden has developedworld-class capabilities. Dryden’s capabilities stem from an expertworkforce, world-class facilities and aircraft, flexible management, and aproven operating system. The product of these factors is a set of capabili-ties that doesn’t exist anywhere else and that fills the demanding needs ofNASA and the Nation. These are the capabilities that provide Dryden theability “to fly what others only imagine” and prove and enhance transfor-mational NASA aeronautical concepts and technologies. These are thecapabilities that enable NASA discovery.

Workforce

Research and research support at Dryden are performed by nearly 600civil service employees and approximately 600 onsite contractor supportstaff working with our partners in other government agencies, industry,and academia. We are bound by a shared set of values that enhance ourteamwork and performance. These values are listed in Section 1.

The most up-to-date information can be found at http://nasapeople.nasa.gov

Dryden benefits by being situated in the center of the most extensive andunique concentration of aerospace expertise in the world. A large, diversepool of independent, corporate, and government aerospace expertise isavailable to complement our own in-house pool of highly competent,experienced, and dedicated engineers, technicians, pilots, project manag-ers, and support professionals. Dryden has in place the processes andagreements to responsively augment its own expert workforce withworld-class capabilities that exist throughout the region.

Real Property Facilities

Dryden is located at Edwards, California, on the western edge of theMojave Desert, 80 miles north of Los Angeles in the southeast corner ofKern County, California. Dryden, a civilian tenant organization within theboundaries of Edwards Air Force Base, occupies 834 acres. Dryden is onthe northwest edge of Rogers Dry Lake, a 44 square-mile area used foraviation research and test operations. The dry lake includes runwaylengths up to 7.5 statute miles. An additional 22 square miles of similarsmooth clay surface is provided by nearby Rosamond Dry Lake. Thesedry lakebeds, along with a number of nearby off-base dry lakebeds, areused in support of missions as planned recovery areas for research aircraftand as emergency landing sites for all aircraft tested at Edwards. Theabsence of large population centers throughout the high desert helps limitproblems associated with aircraft noise and flight patterns.

Another distinct Dryden asset is the dry climate, typically warm and dryin the summer and moderately cool in the winter, which results in excel-lent flying conditions an average of 345 days a year. Edwards Air ForceBase, at 2,302 feet Mean Sea Level altitude and approximately 70 milesfrom the Pacific Ocean, is free of ocean fog and attendant humidity. Inaddition, because Dryden is a tenant on Edwards, we are able to utilizebase-wide services such as fire and rescue services, main runway, taxi-ways, airfield tower, public roads, and schools.

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Since 1946, Dryden has grown from an initial group of five engineers housed in temporary warsurplus facilities into a center of approximately 1,200 civil servant and contractor personnel.Dryden now has approximately 966,000 square feet of building space valued at $260M including559,000 square feet of hangar space, 128,000 square feet of lab space, and 279,000 square feet ofoffice space. To sustain our capabilities, we have aggressively maintained our real property,which has resulted in facilities that are ready for any mission envisioned. This status is typifiedby a small, very manageable maintenance backlog and small demolition projects.

Dryden’s specialized facilities include a unique Flight Loads Laboratory (FLL) used in perform-ing structural loading tests, thermal tests, and large-scale combinations of the two on structuralcomponents and complete flight vehicles. The laboratory is also used to calibrate and evaluateflight loads instrumentation under conditions expected in flight.

Dryden’s Research Aircraft Integration Facility (RAIF) is used to carryout simultaneous checks of flight controls, avionics, electronics, andother systems on a variety of aircraft. It is the only facility of its type inNASA and is designed to speed up and enhance systems integration andpreflight checks on all types of research aircraft. Agency and partneraccess to this facility, along with Dryden’s pilots, engineers, scientists,and technicians, has given NASA programs a unique and highly special-ized capability to conduct flight research projects unmatched anywherein the world.

In addition to the RAIF’s ability to integrate simultaneous systemschecks, the Western Aeronautical Test Range (WATR) can provideconcurrent tracking and data acquisition support through a highlyautomated complex of computer-controlled tracking, telemetry, commu-nications systems, and control rooms. More than 12,000 square miles ofspecial-use airspace over California’s high desert are available forresearch flights with agencies monitoring flights in the area able to linkdirectly to the WATR.

Other specialized capabilities include:• a facility to carry out flight research with remotely piloted vehicles,• an airborne science instrument integration facility,• a calibration site for earth science imaging instruments,• a data analysis facility to process flight research data, and• a Shuttle Mate-Demate Device.

Details of select Dryden real property facilities are included in AppendixA, Dryden Specialized Facilities.

Aircraft

Among the most specialized of Dryden’s facilities are its aircraft. Aircraft are the facilities thatenable flight research to be conducted in the appropriate medium (atmosphere/transatmosphere)and transition theory from the laboratory and wind tunnels to real-world applications, demon-strating that the results of NASA’s research can serve our customers and further NASA’s Mis-sion. Dryden’s flight research aircraft enable performance verification of the technology, valida-tion of its safety and reliability, and discovery of previously unknown problems.

Dryden has benefited from a very long-term relationship with DoD. By working closely withDoD, Dryden has succeeded in acquiring aircraft that benefit NASA and are no longer requiredfor defense. This has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in acquisition cost avoidancebecause these aircraft are usually transferred to NASA at no cost. We then modify and instrumentthem to support flight research. The result is that NASA has developed unique, world-class

A WATR mission controlcenter.

F-18 Ironbird.

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capabilities to study aeronautical concepts and demonstrate transformational technologies. TheseDryden capabilities enable improving the air transportation system and demonstrating spaceaccess technologies, while concurrently being a best value to the American public. By recyclingaircraft, Dryden leverages the DoD logistics system to keep operations cost more affordable.Examples of this model are Dryden’s ability to refresh its mix of support aircraft from 1950svintage F-104s to 1980s versions of the F-18 and its access to the Navy supply system for currentparts and documentation. Dryden will continue to work with DoD to acquire and maintainaircraft capable of safe operation in increasingly complex research missions. A table of currentaircraft is included in Volume 2.

Management

Dryden’s flexible management style is a key enabler of its capabilities. To best fulfill programcommitments and maintain world-class safety for its people and critical facilities, Dryden hasformed five strategic business units to focus theme support efforts. Project/Mission teams areformed within the business units to manage commitments. The teams are staffed from a matrix ofDryden’s organizations to obtain the right mix of skills and people to implement projects. Alllevels of management adhere to a unifying philosophy. Components of this philosophy arementioned in Section 1.

Operating System

Dryden’s project teams use an established, yet continually improving, operating system toprovide NASA’s capability for atmospheric flight operations and flight research. To make thiscapability possible, we have created and refined innovative flight research techniques. This hasresulted in highly developed design, development, production, and operation processes. Theseprocesses and the management system are routinely evaluated, have been certified to ISO 9000Standards since 1999, and are based on Dryden’s operating systems values, which are discussedin Section 1.

Integrated Capabilities

Dryden offers NASA and its partners a full range of capabilities that enable effective and effi-cient execution of flight research missions. Our suite of flight research systems and tools providethe management, support, and engineering skills for the development, safe implementation, andevaluation of flight-test techniques. We also have the ability to develop advanced sensors andinstrumentation systems for flight research data acquisition and provide innovative test tech-niques across aeronautics disciplines to obtain flight research data.

We can also provide advanced methods, techniques, processes, and simulation systems forpiloted and UAV simulations. Among our capabilities is an expansive, safe, and controlled test

range with communications, tracking, data,and control rooms. Orbital and suborbitalvehicle recovery and low-Earth Orbit (LEO)communications and tracking can also beprovided as needed. We are also capable ofdeveloping, managing, and implementing newand innovative platforms for suborbital moni-toring. Dryden’s mission management providesthe processes and methods to efficiently andeffectively design and execute science mis-sions and deployments.

Safety and risk management development andapplication form a bedrock capability wherethe Center provides processes and tool

NASA Dryden’s highlymodified F-15B duringan Intelligent FlightControl System projectflight.

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development to assure the safe flight of unique aerospace vehicles and the analyses and tools tomitigate and minimize the risk of experimental aircraft flight research.

We apply the above capabilities to such areas as experimental vehicleflight research, airborne science missions, and remotely commandedvehicle flight research.

Partnerships

Dryden’s considerable capabilities are further enhanced by our locationon Edwards Air Force Base and longstanding relationships with south-ern California DoD organizations. Dryden has leveraged our locationand working relationship to develop more capability than our organicself and contributed to the capabilities of our DoD partners. Dryden hasin place agreements with most DoD elements in the region but has avery special partnering arrangement with Edwards Air Force Base.

Since the beginnings of the flight test operations near Rogers Dry Lake,which pre-dated the establishment of the Edwards Air Force Base(EAFB), NASA’s and the Air Force’s predecessors forged a history ofworking together. This relationship was formalized in 1995 with thecreation of a union called the Alliance, originally composed of membersof Dryden and the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC). In 1999, theAlliance was expanded to include the Air Force Research Laboratory(AFRL) Propulsion Directorate. The purpose of the Alliance is to develop and sustain a workingrelationship that will improve service and lower costs to the internal and external customers of allparties while preserving the unique missions of each organization.

As a result of the Alliance, all parties have benefited from improved services and/or reduced cost.Shared services of engineers and technicians, shops and laboratories, and flight crew support arebenefits gained through the Alliance. An important quality-of-life benefit for Dryden parents istheir opportunity to use the Edwards’ Child Development Center

One showcase for the Alliance is the use of building 1623, which houses Dryden’s AirborneScience Directorate. Two ER-2s, a DC-8,associated shops, experiment integrationrooms, a warehouse, and offices are all cen-trally located within the same building to makethis a premier airborne science facility. NASAavoided approximately $14 million in costs byusing the Air Force hangar instead of buildinga new one.

Clockwise from left:Visiting Johnson SpaceCenter WB-57, DrydenER-2 high altitudescience platform, B-52Bresearch vehicle air-launch aircraft, and DC-8 flying science labora-tory in building 1623hangar.

The Altair UnmannedAerial Vehicle shows offits lengthy high-aspectratio wing. Photo by:GA-ASI/Alan Waide

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Strategic Capabilitiesfor the FutureStrategic Capabilitiesfor the Future

IV

X-43 HypersonicResearch Vehicle —Hyper-X is an experi-mental flight-researchprogram seeking todemonstrate airframe-integrated, “air-breath-ing” engine technologiesthrough a series ofdemonstrator vehicles.Successful developmentof these technologiespromises to increasepayload capacity forfuture vehicles, includ-ing hypersonic aircraft(faster than Mach 5) andreusable space launch-ers. This is an artist’sconcept of an X-43 inflight.

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NASA has always been a pathfinder organization, discovering new knowledge of earth and spacephenomena and inventing the technologies needed for further discoveries. Dryden is also a pathfinder,continually seeking new knowledge about operating aircraft in the atmosphere and inventing flightresearch concepts and capabilities to continue the quest. We will continue to develop the means to livebetter and safer in our atmosphere, through innovative research and by developing the advancedcapabilities to do it more efficiently and economically.

Dryden Support to Aerospace Technology Enterprise Strategic Objectives

Dryden’s role in the Aerospace Technology Enterprise (AST) is to be the world’s premier flightresearch facility to enable discoveries that fulfill NASA’s Vision. To sustain that position, we have afocused plan to continually improve our capabilities to accomplish the AST’s future mission needs.

Aircraft

To continually improve the Aerospace Technology Enterprise’s (AST) flight research aircraft capabil-ity, Dryden, in its atmospheric flight operations leadership capacity, will continue its collaborationwith DoD. Ongoing efforts are underway to upgrade or replace the current 1980s vintage F-18 supportaircraft with aircraft made available through DoD’s modernization efforts. Dryden’s upgrades areessential to maintain high safety margins and program cost effectiveness and responsiveness. Theseaircraft will require budget investments to enable flight research. We expect that both the provision ofthe aircraft from DoD and the need for internal funds will be ongoing. Dryden will continue to workclosely with DoD to maintain highly capable support aircraft with the capacity to enable increasinglycomplex research missions.

Dryden is also actively pursuing the means to keep its platform and test bed aircraft current andrelevant to the Nation’s needs. One such effort is the acquisition and modification of a B-52H. Dryden,in conjunction with the Air Force Flight Test Center, is modifying a B-52H bomber into a flightresearch support aircraft. The new air-launch aircraft will boost both NASA and USAF efforts in flightresearch and demonstrations of advanced technologies for future access to space vehicles. The B-52Hwill eventually replace the venerable B-52B, which has been in active service since 1955. The B-52Hwill extend NASA’s heavy-lift research aircraft launch capability over 20 years with the addedpotential of increasing the lift capacity of the B-model’s nominal 45,000 lbs to 70,000 lbs. NASA willadditionally benefit from the increased reliability and economical maintenance of Dryden’s new B-52H. Another effort to increase needed AST capability is the acquisition of a C-20 Gulfstream IIIaircraft from the Air Force. The aircraft is an ideal, cost effective research test bed to provide NASA,industry, and academia with a long-term capability for efficient test of subsonic flight experiments.Both aircraft are scheduled to be fully research instrumented and ready for program support in 2004.

Western Aeronautical Test Range (WATR)

WATR research systems and facilities continue to evolve in keeping with rapid technological develop-ments. Improvements in the method in which data is processed, distributed, displayed, and stored willbe made to keep pace with the demands of higher data rates and quantities, customer diversity, and therequirement to interface with remote operations facilities. Mission Control Center (MCC) technologyenhancements will make it possible for research projects to complete project goals with significantlyfewer missions. To improve efficiency, data will be made available in real-time to locations other thanthe control room. Mobile systems will be upgraded to keep pace with the demand for remote opera-tions of UAVs and hypersonic test vehicles. The WATR is currently studying satellite tracking andrange safety systems to replace ground-based tracking systems in the future.

Research Aircraft Integration Facility (RAIF)

As Dryden continues to collaborate with more partners in industry and other parts of the Agency, thetechnology used in the RAIF needs to continually respond to the wider range of requirements andusers in support of future projects. One of these efforts is to progressively make our simulation and

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testing capabilities more easily accessible for project team membersthroughout the Center as well as those located off-site. While our simula-tions are already scalable to varying project scopes and budget constraints,these capabilities will continue to become more mobile and platformindependent. The growing emphasis on information technology will alsohelp the facility improve its ability to organize and document its simulationcapabilities as well as facilitate the transfer of simulation technologyoutside of Dryden to its research partners.

Flight Loads Laboratory (FLL)

The Flight Loads Laboratory is a unique world-class facility and national asset in which criticalstructural tests are conducted to support flightresearch and structures programs of nationalimportance. The FLL is prepared to continue toplay an important role in the next generation offlight and structural research of advancedaerospace and hypersonic programs.

Sustaining and enhancing the capabilities of theFLL will enable continued structural test supportto critical NASA programs including 21stCentury Aeronautics and Access to Space. Forexample, we are currently in negotiations withLangley Research Center (LaRC), MarshallSpace Flight Center (MSFC), and Boeing

regarding hot structures testing of X-37 Orbital Vehicle control surfaces. We are the only facility in thecountry with both the facilities and staffing ready to support this kind of testing.

Our Partnerships with Other NASA Centers, Agencies, and Industry

Although it has expertise in aerospace programs, Dryden does not usually develop programs, butrather focuses on specific flight project areas. Our ability to work in cooperative programs has been amajor strength for the Center. Dryden has a long history of cooperative programs such as the X-1program with the Air Force and, more recently, the X-43A (Hyper-X) with the Langley ResearchCenter, Orbital Sciences, and Micro Craft. Additionally, our Airborne Science program, whichoperates two ER-2s and a DC-8 for Earth observations, has conducted missions for the Department ofCommerce and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. To facilitate those and other missions,we pool resources with science and instrument teams at Ames and Langley Research Centers,Goddard and Marshall Space Flight Centers, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to enable uniquecapabilities. Our plans are to increase Earth science UAV technology efforts with the Wallops FlightFacility.

To meet the goals and objectives of the Agency and Enterprises, the Center has a proven track recordof working cooperatively with the other NASA Centers. This cooperative activity enables the agencyto more effectively utilize unique facilities and capabilities while reducing its reliance on duplicatecapabilities where appropriate. As the Agency’s lead for atmospheric flight research and validation,Dryden teams with all NASA Centers where atmospheric flight validation and research are required.NASA’s program-centric organization requires cooperation, coordination, and communication withand between participating NASA Centers. To this end, Dryden is participating in and expanding ourcapabilities in the NASA Collaborative Engineering Environment.

A major challenge to our partnering arrangements will be the transition to full cost accounting,budgeting, and management in FY 2004. Dryden will closely work with our customers to educatethem on this major change in order to ensure continued cooperation.

Interior of customradiant heater forPegasus wing glovetest.

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Extending Partnerships with Department of Defense

Within the Mojave Desert of southern California lies the most extensive and unique concentration ofaerospace test ranges and aerospace expertise in the world. Dryden’s plans are to further extend andenhance the partnering opportunities between NASA, the DoD, and commercial and industrialorganizations in this unique complex of aerospace entities. Our focus is on developing complementarycapabilities, sharing best practices, and being the best value to the Nation. Dryden’s primary DoDpartnering opportunities are with:

Air Force Flight Test CenterDryden’s plans are to continue to build on theexceptional relationship it has with the Air ForceFlight Test Center (AFFTC) by contributing tothe joint effort to make the Edwards’ complex asUAV friendly as possible and make the Hyper-sonic Corridor a reality. Dryden has joined withthe AFFTC and industry in the AFFTC/DrydenUAV Working Group that is identifying issuesthat impact UAV operations. The goal within thenext three years is to have a UAV friendlyoperation that will encourage research and testflight opportunities and be the benchmarkoperation. Also working with the AFFTCAccess to Space office, Dryden is collaborating on providing telemetry service to a proposedHypersonic Corridor for Mach +5 demonstrations potentially needed for future space transportationsystems. As an Associate Member of the DoD Range Commanders’ Council, Dryden will continueto coordinate its upgrade activities with the Council to ensure standards compatibility and optimizeco-utilization of our state-of-the-art facilities.

Air Force Research LaboratoryDryden has had an on going collaboration withthe Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)through the Aeronautical Flight Technology/Research Activities’ Strategic Planning Paneland its predecessors. Some of the primaryobjectives of the panel are to identify potentialfixed-wing flight research opportunities,evaluate the potential for joint and interdepen-dent flight research efforts, and promotecomplementary technology demonstration andresearch activities. In 1999, the Air VehiclesDepartment of the Naval Air Systems Com-mand became a partner of the panel. Dryden’sefforts in the future will be to reinvigorate thepanel to increase collaboration and continue tobuild on recent AFRL/NASA successes such asthe Autonomous Formation Flight and AerialRefueling research projects at Dryden.

Defense Advanced Research Projects AgencyDryden works with the Defense AdvancedResearch Projects Agency (DARPA) to developtechnologies and systems that enable multiplerobotic aerial vehicles to fly cooperative andcollaborative missions. Through Dryden,DARPA has access to some of the most UAV

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friendly airspace available, a state-of-the-art range system through the WATR, and a flexiblemanagement system that meets their innovative research requirements. Dryden’s expertise insystems engineering, project management, and automated systems, teamed with DARPA’s exper-tise in establishing and guiding highly aggressive research and development programs, can supportthe development of new, agile technical approaches to previously intractable problems associatedwith multiple autonomous robotic aerial vehicles. Dryden benefits through insight into the tech-nologies, concepts, engineering tools, and processes that DARPA is researching, making this a win-win arrangement for both organizations.

Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China LakeDryden and the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) at China Lake, California,exchange, share, and manage scientific, engineering, and technical research in areas that support bothNASA and the Department of the Navy. We will continue to collaborate across the spectrum ofground and flight test engineering, aerospace scientific research and development, modeling andsimulation facilities, aerospace vehicle instrumentation, unique aircraft/platform test bed capabilities,and range and mission control assets. Unique opportunities exist to use multiple organizational rangefacilities for future proof-of-concept testing in a large, remote, and controlled airspace prior toproceeding to implementation. This will include scenarios involving control of multiple types ofvehicles (aircraft, spacecraft, and UAVs) in common airspace. These scenarios will be supported bydemonstrations of current and future safe airspace control techniques for application to the NationalAir Space using development and prototyping of rapid vehicle identification techniques, conventionaland autonomous flight decision making, and intelligent vehicle systems while in a controlled airspaceenvironment with a mix of conventional and non-conventional flight vehicles. Specific future coop-erative project areas will expand in the areas of UAVs, hypersonic propulsion experimentation, uniqueaircraft hardware design, and fabrication, innovative recovery systems, and analysis.

Dryden Support to Strategic Objectives from Enterprises/Themes

In addition to the capability improvements Dryden will make to fulfill NASA’s and AST’s long-termgoals and objectives, we are making capability improvements needed for near-term requirements.Dryden works closely with theme and program managers to develop the right capabilities when theyare needed. Most capabilities cut across many themes and programs, and we will facilitate the

teamwork needed to develop the most beneficialcapability. Listed next is an example of somenear-term capability improvements we aredeveloping.

Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles - Dryden’s UAVinitiatives will push the new paradigm in EarthSystem Science experiment construction foraircraft and enable unprecedented atmosphericobservational capabilities. Dryden has partneredclosely with the ESE science and technologycommunities to develop a mutually beneficial,collaborative roadmap that addresses anticipatedmission needs and technology developmentplans. Central to this effort are the commonobjectives of the Aeronautics Technology andMission and Science Measurements Technologythemes where the rapid infusion and checkout oftechnologies from MSM and the Earth Science

Technology Office will provide the first step into space by requiring smaller, smarter (automated/autonomous), more integrated Earth science payloads on cost-effective platforms. In addition,Dryden’s RAIF will seek to establish the capability to create and demonstrate standards for commonUAV ground control stations. UAVs and other vehicles will become more capable and more relevantcheckout platforms for potential space flight systems than most of the current fleet.

Opposite page top:Entrance sign toEdwards Air ForceBase.

Opposite page center:Two Dryden F/A-18aircraft in AFRL Auto-mated Aerial Refuelingproject mission.

Opposite page bottom:X-45A UnmannedCombat Air Vehicle(UCAV) technologydemonstrator duringcollaborative NASADryden, DARPA,Boeing, Air Forceresearch flight.

This page below:General Atomic-Aeronautical Systems,Inc. Altair. The AltairUAV was jointly devel-oped with NASA for civilapplications, such asmaking Earth observa-tions for scientificpurposes.

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Education - The Virtual Flight Loads Laboratory is an education and research program that involvesDryden’s engineers, a 4-year university, a community college, and a local middle school. Theprogram’s main purpose is to provide educators with unique tools for enhancing instruction bycreating a virtual lab to infuse the K-12 education system with opportunities for students to experiencethe process of discovery with Dryden’s cutting-edge technology research and assets and commerciallyavailable software. These tools allow participating schools to perform tests through the Internet thattypically cannot be conducted in the classroom. The program also includes teaching modules andlaboratory test demonstrations that are consistent with national and state science and math standards.While the virtual lab is primarily educational, NASA engineers use this newly developed technologi-cal tool for research engineering and demonstrations.

Dryden Support to Human Capital

Dryden strives to attract and retain a diverse, skilled, and professional civil service workforce thatpossesses the competencies required to achieve the Center’s mission and goals. The challenge is tomaintain the workforce flexibility needed to respond to the unexpected, while at the same timemaintaining the right mix of state-of-the-art competencies to efficiently meet NASA program require-ments and provide challenging opportunities in a high-quality work environment. To meet thesechallenges, Dryden will focus on the following issues:

• Align its workforce to efficiently perform the work of the Center• Nurture a highly skilled, diverse civil service workforce that embraces continuous learning and skills development by

– Recognizing and rewarding teaching and mentoring and– Providing training and development to build needed competencies

• Develop leaders who think strategically, inspire employees, and achieve results• Provide challenging work and a high quality of work life by

– Utilizing workplace flexibilities– Ensuring the appropriate level of empowerment and accountability, and– Optimizing the match of employee skills with organizational need

Dryden’s investment in our future workforce will be demonstrated through our continued collabora-tive efforts led by the Center’s Equal Opportunity, Human Resources, and Education professionals.Two examples of these efforts are Dryden’s Workforce Enhancement Thrust and AERO Institute.

Workforce Enhancement - In response to the major workforce challenges in science and engineering,Dryden will build stronger partnerships with the academic community and aerospace industry toexpand the pool of human capital necessary to maintain and improve the Nation’s base in aerospaceand airborne science research and development. To foster the development of this workforce, Drydenestablished the Mathematic, Science, Engineering, and Technology Consortium. The Consortium iscomposed of local and state governments, private and public industrial partners, a local school system,and a number of the state’s academic institutions (university and community college). The mainmission of this consortium is to create and maintain a diversified, state-of-the-art technical workforcethrough high quality science, technology, engineering, and math education programs and strongcommunity partnerships.

Dryden understands that to accomplish its aeronautic and airborne science missions, it is importantthat its future workforce reflects the full spectrum of the U.S. population, including women, minori-ties, and under-served populations. With this in mind, Dryden pays particular attention to ensuringdiversity in its educational programs.

Aerospace Research, Education, and Operations Institute (AERO Institute) - In 2001, the Agencyconducted the Strategic Resources Review with the purpose of developing an integrated, long-termAgency plan to ensure a national capability to support NASA’s Mission. As part of this activity,Dryden established the AERO Institute to produce the next generation aerospace technical workforceby enlisting the combined forces of federal, state, and local government, industry, and academia.

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Dryden Support to Real Property

The Center develops its Construction of Facilities (CoF) program in coordination with all Centerfunctional organizations. The main focuses from the Enterprises’ standpoint are the Aerospace Projectand Airborne Science Offices. At yearly Program Operating Plan calls, inputs are solicited from allorganizations. These inputs represent their facility needs as known from their respective Enterprises.Since Dryden has a single mission—atmospheric flight operations—most of its programmaticrequirements are needs for hangar space, including special system requirements for ground test andvalidation in preparation for flight. In addition, we coordinate very closely with the Alliance inmeeting programmatic requirements through their respective Facilities Utilization Boards. TheAlliance’s Facilities Integrated Project Team evaluates the common facility requirements and utiliza-tion. A prime example is the Memorandum of Agreement established with the AFFTC for theirbuilding 1623 to house the Dryden Airborne Science program.

Dryden will support the Agency’s future by continuing to aggressively maintain its real property, itsrelevance to new programs, and continually improve its real property management processes. To stayahead of project requirements, project managers’ regular communication with facility planners will beongoing. We will maintain the process of yearly real property reviews to evaluate facility utilization,condition, and ability to meet project requirements. Facility managers will continue to work withsenior management to align and prioritize institutional and programmatic needs. Results of theseefforts will be published annually in Volume 2 of this Center Implementation Plan.

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ImplementingStrategiesImplementingStrategies

V

Airborne Science inAction — Dryden’sAirborne Scienceaircraft supported theEarth ScienceEnterprise’s interna-tional SAGE III OzoneLoss and ValidationExperiment (SOLVE) inKiruna, Sweden. One ofDryden’s two ER-2high-altitude scienceaircraft is prepared for amission and the DC-8airborne laboratorytakes off from Kiruna ona SOLVE mission.

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NASA developed implementing strategies to improve its planning and management activities.Dryden is committed to these management strategies as part of its continual improvement process.Through these, we will reinforce the management foundation necessary to further Dryden’s innova-tive flight research excellence while maintaining our unwavering commitment to safety and fiscalresponsibility.

Management and Institution Excellence

IS-1 - Achieve management and institutional excellence comparable to NASA’s technical excellence.

Human CapitalOur people are the most important resource in accomplishing Dryden’s Mission. We, along with therest of the Agency and the Federal government, face major challenges due to the wave of potentialretirements in the next five years and the current lack of sufficient workforce to take their places.Along with this internal challenge, we are faced with the external challenge of a severe shortage ofcollege graduates in the science and engineering fields. Another unique challenge at Dryden is ourremote location and desert climate, usually not deemed the most favorable attributes of a place tolive. Given these challenges, we are participating with the Agency in their efforts to stem thesenegative tides via the Agency’s Strategic Human Capital implementation plan. Our goal is havingthe right people in the right place and at the right time. Maintaining the most efficient and economicbalance between the various components of this working alliance is a major goal of the Center. Assuch, use of scarce civil service resources is reserved for those competencies and skills required toperform tasks that are appropriate only for NASA civil servants and for those pipeline positionsrequired to preserve proficiency in core competencies. Currently, we are targeting the majority ofour hiring on new graduates and at-risk competencies as well as refocusing our recruitment effortsto improve our diversity. We are also examining ways to improve our mentoring activities anddeveloping mechanisms to share valuable lessons learned with our employees. We have much workto do, but we are focused in our efforts and forging ahead.

Competitive SourcingThe goal of competitive sourcing is to ensure the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars for doing theFederal government’s work. In 2001, we developed a competitive sourcing plan to transitionidentified commercial work currently accomplished with civil service personnel to the privatesector. By transitioning that work to the private sector, we are able to redeploy these civil servicepositions to key core competency skill areas, further helping to fill the gaps identified in the assess-ment of future staffing needs.

Financial ManagementOur key activity in this area is the implementation of the Core Financial module of the IntegratedFinancial Management Program (IFMP). Initial accomplishment of this implementation at Drydentook place in June of 2003. This IFMP system will, for the first time in NASA’s history, provide asingle, state-of-the-art, integrated accounting system for all Centers. Along with implementing acommon system, our Agency-wide business processes have been reviewed and reengineered toensure consistency and standardization. The completion of the core financial module implementa-tion corrects a major weakness for NASA as identified by the Office of Management and Budget.

Budget and Performance IntegrationAt the Center level, the corresponding Integrated Budget Performance Document (IBPD) is Volume2 of the Center Implementation Plan (CIP). Volume 2 will identify specific performance metricsassociated with accomplishing our program budgets. These metrics will be reviewed on a regularbasis at the Dryden Program Management Council and Center Management Council reviews.

Electronic GovernmentDryden supports the Agency goal of implementing the e-Government Act as part of its overallstrategy for information technology. As the Agency’s Centers align with the goals of the e-Govern-ment Act, their information technology systems become more interdependent. To help achieve the

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goals of the e-Government Act, Dryden is actively participating in several Agency informationtechnology initiatives: the Enterprise Architecture working group, the XML working group, theAccount Management working group, and the NASA Shared Services Center. Dryden will supportother efforts as they emerge.

Dryden has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that its IT system integrates with the Agency’sIntegrated Financial Management system. Also, Dryden is supporting the One NASA Web Portalby matching existing public content with the architecture of the Agency Portal, and new public webcontent is being created with the architecture of the Agency Portal in mind.

Institutions and Asset ManagementAs stated earlier, Dryden’s real estate assets are valued at $260 million. With our transition to fullcost accounting, service pool and line managers are carefully scrutinizing all facilities and servicesto ensure their most efficient use. This will result in more competitive rates for our customers.

Information Technology Leadership

IS-2 - Demonstrate NASA leadership in the use of information technologies.

The Agency strategy is to implement the following objectives by 2005:

1) Provide all NASA operations with secure, highly reliable, interoperable information systems.2) Enable NASA people to communicate across an integrated, low-cost Information Technology

(IT) infrastructure.

Inter-Center

Public,Acad emiaIndus try

Extern al(DoD, Indus try,

Acad emia )

Support

Intern al

Extern al(IFMP)

Diss emination

Collab orations

Intern alCollab oration

InformationTechnologyCore

DrydenMissi on

Figure 1 - InformationTechnology Model

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3) Design and operate a One NASA network to improve organizational interactions and fosterimproved collaboration and sharing of accumulated NASA knowledge assets.

4) Establish systems to deliver superior information services to consumers, educators, students,researchers, and the general public as well as to government agencies, NASA contractorsand suppliers, and other businesses.

The Dryden Information Technology (IT) ModelDryden’s IT implementation is influenced by the Agency’s information technology strategy aswell as the need to perform the Dryden Mission. Dryden’s IT implementation seeks to achievethe Center’s Mission requirements and align with the Agency’s strategy as illustrated in Table 3.Dryden will embed key IT values throughout the model. These values include security, reliabil-ity, manageability, user friendliness, openness, and economy.

Methodology DFRC Objective

To provide enabling information technologies for Dryden to perform its Mission and to communicate effectively with internal and external partners and customers.➢ Agency IT Objective Alignment: 1, 2, 3, 4

To provide scientific and research information and technology to the public, to academia, and to the aerospace industry in a timely manner.➢ Agency IT Objective Alignment: 4

To provide information systems that allow internal and external collaboration of project and business information and data.➢ Agency IT Objective Alignment: 1, 2, 3

To provide information systems that allow internal and external collaboration of project and business information and data.➢ Agency IT Objective Alignment: 1, 4

To provide information systems that allow internal and external collaboration of project and business information and data.NOTE: Inter-Center means between Centers. The difference is that the systems used for Inter-Center collaboration have different requirements than those for collaborations with business partners; therefore, they are separate.➢ Agency IT Objective Alignment: 1, 2, 3

To provide information systems that allow the mission to be accomplished and to provide an interface between the institutional support organizations and the organizations providing direct mission support.➢ Agency IT Objective Alignment: 1, 2

Providing • An interoperable desktop to every user• A reliable and fast network• High-speed, remote access to critical systems• Adequate and scalable back-end services• Information Technology security

• Utilizing XML and other open standards for publishing reports and information• Developing a taxonomy of our data products and associated XML schema that allows for the broadest use of those products• Providing information products through the Agency’s web portal

Providing• Secure digital space for all flight projects that conforms to a project template, is searchable, and is available long after a project is complete• Secure, isolated access to export-controlled flight data

Providing• Secure, digital space (e.g., web portals, etc.) for all flight projects to share information and data with external partners• Secure access to external partner’s information systems when necessary

• Using open and common file and data standards across the Agency• Providing a common, cross-Agency authentication method• Providing user account management and net- work resource access through Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) that is coordinated across the Agency• Implementing common information technologies throughout the Agency• Being a pathfinder for evaluation of new capabilities and emerging technologies• Sharing best local practices and policies among Centers

Providing• Digital space (e.g., web portals, etc.) for support organizations to communicate information to the Center• Reliable access to the Agency-wide business system

Communication Interfaces

Core Technology

Dissemination

Internal

External

Inter-Center

Collaborations

Support

Table 3. IS-2 Model

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To understand the scope of the information system required to perform Dryden’s Mission, it isnecessary to understand what the mission is, who accomplishes it, and the communicationinterfaces necessary to get it accomplished. The three fundamental communication interfaces inthe information model-dissemination, collaborations, and support-are shown in Figure 1. Thesecritical interfaces are enabled by an Information Technology Core and need to be clearly definedand aligned with the Agency strategy.

Core Capabilities, Safety, and Mission Success

IS-3 - Enhance NASA’s core engineering, management, and scientific capabilities and processesto ensure safety and mission success, increase performance, and reduce cost.

Dryden missions involve performing flight research and managing experimental vehicle projects,managing airborne platforms, integrating experiments for Earth science measurements, andsupporting Shuttle and ISS operations. The majority of the Dryden workforce is involved inengineering and technical management supporting these missions. It is critical that the Centermaintain high performance in management, engineering, and technology to accomplish itsmission with efficacy. Project managers are constantly challenged to fully use their experienceand expertise to ensure flight project safety and technical performance while reducing scheduleand cost. Dryden uses Agency guidance, such as NPG (NASA Policy and Guidance) 7120.5A,and state-of-the-art tools to assure the highest quality in the formulation, approval, implementa-tion, and evaluation of its projects.

Dryden is committed to excellence in all its projects and missions. It participates in the Enter-prises’ program formulation and approval processes to the maximum extent possible to ensureincorporation of “end tester/user” requirements leading to the highest probability of success forits projects and missions. During the life cycle of a project, Dryden’s knowledgeable personnelparticipate in formulation, implementation reviews, and performance evaluation.

To ensure that Dryden achieves flight research project success and efficiency, the Center will• Participate early in program/project development to ensure incorporation of flight research

requirements;• Improve our systems engineering capability and ensure that all Dryden flight projects follow

system engineering best practices; and• Establish a management approach that can be tailored to the needs of individual projects, based

on safety, scope, complexity, cost, and accepted risk.

It is the responsibility of the Center’s Chief Engineer/Systems Management Office (SMO), theDirector of Research Engineering, and the Director of Safety and Mission Assurance to ensurethat our engineering and technological tools, capabilities, and processes are ready to meet theCenter’s demanding challenges.

Assured Work Environment

IS-4 - Ensure that all NASA work environments, on Earth and in space, are safe, healthy, envi-ronmentally sound, and secure.

Dryden has a diverse, sophisticated workforce and a high-risk mission. Our programs andprojects rely on unique resources, both aircraft and human. We rely on well-defined initiatives,constant vigilance, and effective communication to ensure that our projects are conducted safely,securely, and in an environmentally sound manner. This critical focus allows us to securelycontrol risk, improve quality, enhance mission success, and more effectively manage cost andschedule across the Center.

At Dryden, safety, security, and environmental programs are driven by our management’s andemployees’ commitment to making Dryden’s work environments safe and secure – for aircrews,

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the public, and the Dryden workforce – in our industrial, ground, and flight research operations.Our management and employees reflect this commitment, both in organization structure/respon-sibilities and in attitude. Our safety commitment spans industrial, environmental, quality, andsystem safety issues. Our security commitment spans physical and information technology, andour medical and employee assistance programs span the physical and psychological needs of thecommunity of employees.

To this end, Dryden will pursue the following objectives:• Prevent injuries from occurring during the course of activities;• Work closely with other local, state, and federal agencies to try to remove all security threats to

Dryden civil service and contractor personnel, facilities, and information;• Protect Dryden physical assets and information technology from damage or theft;• Eliminate the incidents of occupational health problems from our workforce;• Maximize physical and psychological well being when and where necessary;• Eliminate environmental incidents, toxic chemical use, hazardous waste, and environmental

liability;• Maintain a comprehensive safety mishap prevention program with full management support and

employee participation;• Sustain our record performance of zero lost time injury rate over 3 years; and• Sustain comprehensive System Safety and Quality Assurance processes on programs/projects

throughout their life cycle.

The Center Director is responsible for establishing and maintaining the programs to assure thatthese goals are effectively met. However, ultimate responsibility for world-class safety, security,and health programs is vested in each and every Dryden employee.

Effective Risk Management

IS-5 - Manage risk and cost to ensure success and provide the greatest value to the Americanpublic.

By the very nature of its Mission, Dryden undertakes unique and challenging programs that areinherently high risk. To ensure national aerospace preeminence, Dryden will continue to aggres-sively pursue new cutting-edge technology through flight research in a safe, effective, and timelymanner.

In the course of Center activities, decisions are required that impact programmatic, technical, andsafety issues. It is imperative that managers and other decision makers have both the tools andthe information to understand the risks involved with decision alternatives. They must be able toassess options in terms of risk and arrive at a risk-informed decision.

Dryden uses available Agency tools and provides additional tools and training to ascertain risksassociated with decision making for our projects. In his role as the ultimate acceptor of risk, theCenter Director, through Center management, is responsible for ensuring that our decisionmakers have superior program management and technical risk management tools.

To achieve this goal, Dryden will ensure that NASA and other program and risk managementtools are provided to decision makers, that they are trained in the use of those tools, and that theyhave the information required to continuously and effectively manage and communicate bothtechnical and programmatic risk.

Managing cost and predicting cost impacts to projects and programs is also a risk challenge. Wehave an obligation to accurately and openly assess costs throughout the program life cycle and toreport them openly and in a timely manner.

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Dryden will adopt the new NASA standard cost estimation and management systems. Wewill also utilize NASA developed improvements for cost estimation and management ofour programs and projects.

Center management is responsible for communicating Agency policy throughout the Center andensuring that the Center uses established best practices for risk management. The Safety andMission Assurance Office Chief is responsible for ensuring that safety risk management tools areavailable to individual project managers for informed risk-based trade-off decisions. The DrydenDirector of Aerospace Projects is responsible for ensuring that the required processes are in placefor accurate, timely cost estimation and management as well as monitoring risk based trade-offs.

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Appendices

Homeward Bound —The Space ShuttleAtlantis, atop NASA’s747 Shuttle CarrierAircraft in the Mate-Demate Device, ispreparing for the returnto Kennedy SpaceCenter. NASA Drydencontinues to support thehuman space flightprogram by serving asan alternate landing sitefor the Shuttle fleet andas the site of atmo-spheric flight testing offuture space-accessvehicles.

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Appendix A: Dryden Specialized Facilities

Multi-purpose Aircraft

Test Bed and Platform aircraft are used to carry instruments of all types to a specific point in theatmosphere or in space to gather research data or launch research vehicles. Dryden has a variety of testbed aircraft with capabilities that can be customized to meet the needs of NASA, DoD, industry, andacademia. Current test bed aircraft include B-52 (B&H models), F-15B, Gulfstream-III (G-III), andBeechcraft King Air. Since 1959, the B-52B heavy launch aircraft has provided a unique capability foraerial launch of research aircraft from the X-15 to the X-38. The B-52H started missions in 2003. TheF-15B is the ideal research test bed for supersonic and highly dynamic flight environments. The G-IIIand King Air aircraft are cost-effective test beds for experiments in subsonic and less dynamic flightenvironments. Some test bed aircraft can be reconfigured as research aircraft when an advancedconcept requires a highly integrated approach. A representative list of this type of research vehicle atDryden includes F-18 Automated Aerial Refueling, F-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing, F-15 Active, andthe C-17.

The Support aircraft consist of five high-performance F-18 jets and one twin turbo prop King Air,which are used for safety chase, photo chase, airborne simulator, pacer, small experiments carrier, andpilot proficiency. These aircraft are necessary to aid the research aircraft in performing their missionssafely, swiftly, and efficiently.

A third category of aircraft is Mission Management aircraft used to provide cost effective transporta-tion from one government location to another. A table of Dryden Aircraft is included in Volume 2 andon the web at http://www.Dryden.nasa.gov/Gallery/.

Flight Loads Laboratory (FLL)

The Flight Loads Laboratory supports a broad spectrum of flight research programs for NASA, DoD,private industry, and other aerospace organizations. It is used to perform structural loads and thermaltests of structural components and complete flight vehicles as well as combined structural loads andthermal tests. It is also used to calibrate and evaluate flight loads instrumentation under conditionsexpected in flight.

The FLL consists of a large high-bay test area with adjacent laboratories, offices, and storage space.The 164 by 120 foot reinforced concrete floor contains tie-down slots to anchor test setups and isaccessed from the entry ramp by a 136 by 40 footdoor. The open area for testing is approximately146 x 113 square feet. A 5-ton overhead rail cranewith a maximum hook height of 39 feet servicesthe entire test area floor. The FLL incorporatessystems for mechanical and thermal structuraltesting, as well as for data acquisition and testcontrol. The main test area can be viewed from thedata acquisition and test control room, which is onthe second floor. Instrumentation and electronicsupport laboratories are also available. Additionalfeatures of the FLL include closed-circuit televi-sion for remote monitoring, a public addresssystem, and a headset audio communicationssystem.

For more information, go to: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Research/Facilities/FLL/index.html

Test setup for straingage calibration loading.

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The Dryden Walter C. Williams Research Aircraft Integration Facility (RAIF)

Named after Walter C. Williams, Dryden’s Director from 1946 to 1959, the RAIF is designed toeffectively and efficiently support aircraft testing and maintenance in Dryden’s flight research programs.The RAIF includes two expansive hangers, partitioned as required, for various aircraft projects. Aircrafttechnicians, maintenance crews, and operations engineers are housed in office space located between thetwo hangars. Overlooking the hangar floors, high-fidelity engineering simulations are located on thesecond floor of the RAIF, including an area for the simulation technicians. The front of the RAIF hastwo stories of office space for flight research staff including simulation and systems engineers, dynamicsand controls engineers, structures engineers, facility management, and computer support specialists. TheRAIF also includes several small-to-large sized conference rooms

The facility provides an environment for conducting efficient and thorough testing of advanced, highlyintegrated research aircraft. It hosts a variety of functions supported by state-of-the-art equipment forhigh-fidelity flight simulation, vehicle-in-the-loop automated testing, remotely augmented vehicleoperation, remotely piloted vehicle operation, ground vibration testing, and routine aircraft maintenance.

For more information, go to: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Research/Facilities/RAIF/index.html

Western Aeronautical Test Range (WATR)

The WATR provides research systems and facilities to support atmosphericflight operations and low-Earth orbit missions undertaken by NASA andother users by supplying a comprehensive set of resources for

• Control and monitoring of all flight activities,• Real-time acquisition and reduction of research data, and• Effective communication of information to flight and ground crews.

Working closely with the AFFTC at Edwards Air Force Base, the WATRprovides access to special-use airspace covering approximately 12,000square miles of mostly desert area. Designated areas assigned for spin and

dive tests and corridors for low, medium, and high altitude supersonic flight are also available.

Two aeronautical tracking facilities provide tracking, telemetry downlink, command uplink, and videodownlink capabilities. An outlying communications facility provides voice communications betweenpilots and ground controllers as well as flight termination system capabilities for UAVs. Long-rangeoptical trackers provide broadcast quality, high-definition television and infrared images. In addition, alarge secure area within the Dryden main building is set aside for real-time data processing and datamonitoring in several Mission Control Centers (MCCs). Mobile systems provide communications,video, and telemetry support for specialized requirements. An extensive network of communication,fiber optic, and satellite systems is used to relay radar, audio, video, and telemetry data among Drydenfacilities, other NASA centers, other government agencies, and private industry. The WATR can adapt tomeet the requirements of a wide range of test articles including Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs) thatrequire extended range coverage beyond the boundaries of the local range complex.

For more information, go to: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Research/Facilities/WATR/index.html

Airborne Science Experiment Integration Facility (EIF)

The EIF is a suite of specialty rooms for visiting experimenters to set up, test, and integrate their scienceand support instruments with airborne science aircraft. There are six secure rooms capable of supportingup to 30 instrument teams, each equipped with internet connections, phones with voice mail, workbenches, and chemical and equipment storage lockers. All specialty rooms have access to aircraft-likepower (28vdc/20 amp and 115vac/400hz/3-phase/20 amp) to simulate installed conditions, as well asnumerous conventional power outlets including 208vac/3 phase/60hz/30amp and 115vac/60hz/30 amp.

Aeronautical trackingfacility.

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The EIF also includes an ER-2 experiment integration simulator that provides the experimenter with off-aircraft access to major ER-2 payload areas and power for electrical, controland fit checks. Most of the rooms have laser curtains for laser instrument set-up and bench check and one equipped with a fume hood, shower, and eyewash to support toxic chemical use. The 6,000 square foot EIF is easilyreconfigured to accommodate a wide variety of science teams and is highlyintegrated into the airborne science facility with two rooms having directaccess into the hangar and all six being close to program support personneland the shipping office.

Absolute Radiometric Calibration Site (ARCS)

The ARCS consists of parts of Rogers Dry Lake and the 2.8km x 1.8kmcalibration site is located approximately 19km east of the lakebed. Both areclearly visible from Landsat 7 imagery. The collaborative Dryden-EdwardsAFB facility complements the Stennis Space Center’s Modulation TransferFunction calibration site. Available calibration site data sets include spectralaerosol optical thickness, columnar water vapor, local meteorological data,and a reflectance file. Information regarding spectral optical depth andcolumnar water vapor data is available at http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov.

Space Shuttle Support Facilities

The Space Shuttle Mate-Demate Device (MDD) at NASA’s Dryden FlightResearch Center is a large gantry-like steel structure used to hoist the orbitersoff the ground during post-landing servicing operations and during matingand demating operations with the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). Thefacility consists of two 100-foot towers with stationary work platforms at the20-, 40-, 60- and 80-foot levels on each tower and a horizontal structuremounted at the 80-foot level between the two towers. The horizontal unitcantilevers 70 feet out from the main tower units and controls and guides alarge lift beam that attaches to the orbiters to raise and lower them. Threelarge hoists are used to raise and lower the lift beam. Two of the hoists areconnected to the aft portion of the lift beam and one hoist is attached to thebeam’s forward section. The three hoists operate simultaneously in the hoisting process. Each of thethree hoists has a 100,000-pound lift capability. Operating together, the total lifting capacity of the threeunits is 240,000 pounds (120 tons).

The Space Shuttle hangar, near the MDD, is a single-bay, 25,000 square-foot structure 170 feet deep,140 feet wide, and 80 feet high.

NASA uses two modified Boeing 747 jetliners originally manufactured for commercial use as ShuttleCarrier Aircraft (SCA). One is a 747-100 model, while the other is designated a 747-100SR (shortrange). The two aircraft are identical in appearance and in their performance as Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.The 747 series of aircraft are four-engine intercontinental-range, swept-wing jumbo jets. The SCAs areused to ferry space shuttle orbiters from landing sites back to the launch complex at the Kennedy SpaceCenter and also to and from other locations too distant for the orbiters to be delivered by ground trans-portation. The orbiters are placed atop the SCAs by Mate-Demate Devices.

For more information, go to: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Newsroom/FactSheets/FS-014-DFRC.html

Subscale Flight Research Facility (Model Shop)

The Subscale Research Facility is used to evaluate innovative and unusual concepts for less expensethan with full-scale systems and to assess the performance of various systems and sensors in a flightenvironment. The shop’s primary capability is the design, fabrication, and operation of subscale flight

Top: An EIF specialtyroom with laser curtains.

Bottom: Image of PB-8taken from an ER-2 at65,000 feet.

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vehicles. Vehicle design includes aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, and 2-D CAD drawings.Fabrication uses both classic model materials and composites. Radio uplink, servo controls, and othervehicle systems are included in the fabrication. Basic machining is accomplished within the model shop.Ground testing and flight operations are conducted in a safe manner using established model operatingprocedures. Photo documentation and written reports provide normal documentation. In addition,experimenters often obtain flight data using their onboard instrumentation and data logging system.

Appendix B: Abbreviations and Acronyms

AERO Aerospace Research, Education, and Operations InstituteAFFTC Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, CaliforniaAFRL Air Force Research LaboratoryAFRL/PR Air Force Research Laboratory/Propulsion DirectorateAT Aeronautics TechnologyAST Aerospace Technology EnterpriseCAD Computer Aided DesignCoF Construction of FacilitiesDARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects AgencyDoD Department of DefenseEAP Educator Astronaut ProgramEE Education EnterpriseEIF Experiment Integration FacilityEP Education ProgramESA Earth Science ApplicationsESE Earth Science EnterpriseESS Earth System ScienceFAA Federal Aviation AdministrationFLL Flight Loads LaboratoryFY Fiscal YearIBPD Integrated Budget Performance DocumentIFMP Integrated Financial Management ProgramISO International Organization for StandardsISS International Space StationIT Information TechnologyITTP Innovative Technology Transfer PartnershipsJPL Jet Propulsion LaboratoryLEO Low Earth OrbitMCC Mission Control CenterMDD (Shuttle) Mate-Demate DeviceMSFC Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AlabamaMSM Mission and Science Measurement (Technology)NACA National Advisory Committee for AeronauticsNAWCWD Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons DivisionNES NASA Explorer SchoolsNGLT Next Generation Launch TechnologyNPG NASA Policy and GuidanceOSP Orbital Space PlaneRAIF Research Aircraft Integration FacilityROA Remotely Operated AircraftSBIR Small Business Innovation ResearchSCA Shuttle Carrier AircraftSFE Space Flight EnterpriseSLI Space Launch InitiativeSMO Systems Management OfficeSSP Space Shuttle ProgramSTTR Small (Business) Technology Transfer

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UAV Uninhabited Aerial VehicleWATR Western Aeronautical Test RangeXML Extensible Markup Language

Appendix C: Reference List

NASA Homepagehttp://www.nasa.gov/

About NASA Website (Budget, Strategic Plan, Performance Report)http://www.nasa.gov/about/budget/AN_Budget_04_detail.html

Office of Policy and Planshttp://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codez/plans.html

Office of the Chief Financial Officerhttp://ifmp.nasa.gov/codeb/library/library.htm

Dryden Flight Research Center Public Homepage - “...to separate the real from the imagined.”http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/

Dryden Flight Research Center Internal Homepagehttp://xnet.dfrc.nasa.gov/

Aerospace Technology Enterprise Homepage - Enabling the Future of Air and Space Transportationhttp://www.aero-space.nasa.gov/

Earth Science Enterprise Homepage - Destination Earthhttp://www.earth.nasa.gov/

Office of Space Flight Homepage - Welcome to the Future of Space Flighthttp://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/

Education Enterprise Homepage - “To Inspire the Next Generation of Explorers...As OnlyNASA Can.”http://www.education.nasa.gov/

Office of Human Resources Homepage - NASA Peoplehttp://nasapeople.nasa.gov/

Integrated Financial Management Program Homepagehttps://access.ifmp.nasa.gov/pc/

Federal Enterprise Architecture Program Management Office Homepagehttp://feapmo.gov

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National Aeronauticsand Space Administration

Dryden Flight Research CenterP.O. Box 273Edwards, CA 93523

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov

October 2003